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The project Corsa is slowly but surely going to work. Although he drove frighteningly well for his 250 Euro, the unsightly vibrations during braking were a problem which had to be remedied as quickly as possible.
Also, the handbrake was without real function. Only when you pulled the lever to the roof, something like braking effect could be seen. The fact that the rear axle also bobbed on bumps a bit longer made it clear: something must happen here. The exhaust also made a bit more noise than would have been necessary with 65PS from 1.2 liters.
Brake, exhaust and damper - The rear axle on the Opel Corsa B is looking for new parts!
The agenda was written quickly: Once everything is new, In parts, this meant: middle and rear mufflers with associated clamps, shock absorbers with dome bearings, handbrake cable, brake shoes, brake drums with new ABS rings and fresh wheel bearings.
The whole package of repairs this week is not that easy to repair, so it is advisable to carry out the work on a lifting platform - and of course to know what you are doing. Because all the facial expressions of a drum brake, the correct setting of the wheel bearing play and the handbrake do not reveal themselves at the first attempt. An experienced screwdriver will of course do this with his own hands, for this reason you should have someone on hand who is familiar with the subject if you have never worked on a drum brake yourself.
Renewing the drum brake
In the first step you drive the car on the stage and disassemble the wheels. Now the rusty problem zone presents itself in its full splendor. Carefully tap the grease cap of the wheel bearings with a hammer and screwdriver, then remove the lock pin of the castellated nut. This then goes off quite easily and you can carefully remove the drum with the hammer of the wheel hub.
To our astonishment, the drums presented themselves in the best condition. A very good contact pattern and also a symmetrical wear of the brake shoes suggested that the rear axle hardly responsible for the vibrations and the strange braking behavior of our Corsa. But the other work finally wanted to be done and once you're there, then the additional costs of the new parts are hardly worth mentioning and you can be sure that you have the next few years rest and braking will be reliable.
Now you gradually unhook the retaining springs and the adjustment mechanism of the handbrake. The associated brake cable can be cut with the diagonal cutter, after all it should be replaced by a new part. If you have removed all the parts, only the jaws remain, which you can also quickly dismantle by loosening the locking pins.
Since cleanliness has the highest priority when working on safety-relevant parts of the car, now is a good time to the remaining parts, so anchor plate, wheel brake cylinder and wheel hub, thoroughly clean and check for any damage. In our case, everything was fine. The cuffs of the wheel brake cylinders were tight and without damage, the hubs showed no run-in traces and also the baffles were free from excessive corrosion.
When reassembling, it is advisable to buy the so-called accessory kit, which contains the tension springs, locking pins and disc springs. The assembly makes it a lot easier and the correct function is more guaranteed than if you built the old stuff again. The adjuster for the handbrake should be brought to the zero position, as the large lining thickness of the new brake shoes would otherwise make the assembly of the brake drums unnecessarily difficult. After all, the correct setting can also be made with the drum mounted; the Corsa also uses the Y-piece that connects both handbrake cables on the rear axle.
Wheel bearing in the fridge?
To mount the brake drums, the inner wheel bearing now has to be mounted. Since this is a tight fit, you should put the fresh stock overnight in the freezer and heat the brake drum with a hot air blower well, so you can press the bearings without tension. If you do not have a hydraulic press at hand, you can also hammer in the bearing with a hammer and a suitable nut. Here, however, care should be taken to ensure that the camp is not tilted. If you have the bearing in the drum, the drum can be put on the wheel hub. All that remains is the outer wheel bearing. Greased this is placed in the brake drum and then provided with thrust washer and the castle nut.
Adjust wheel bearing clearance
Proper adjustment of the wheel bearing clearance is best done as follows: Hand-tighten the crown nut and align with the hole in the steering knuckle. Now use a screwdriver to check whether the thrust washer can still be moved easily. If this is the case, then check whether the wheel bearing clearance is not too large. Simply put the bike on and shake it to "half-one" position on the bike. If the wheel gives way noticeably, the wheel bearing play is too great and the castellated nut has to be tightened one more tooth. It is only important that the thrust washer is still displaced without much effort. If it is not, the wheel bearing is too strong biased and can therefore overheat and eat in the worst case, or even completely destroyed. Therefore: rather a little more play in the wheel bearing, than too little.
Set handbrake
If the brakes are now fully assembled, you can adjust the handbrake. This is, as already described, on the Einstellmechnismus, which can be achieved with mounted drum through the wheel bolt holes, as well as through the manifold on the rear axle. The handbrake should be adjusted so that in the third notch of the lever, the wheels can not be turned by hand. Of course, you must not put them so sharp that they still grind when the lever is released.
Part 2: Out with the exhaust
Remains the exhaust. Anyone who wants to save time and trouble, sprayed the Verbindungsschellen before the other work generously rust remover on. Then the miracle cure has its effect until you have to loosen the screws. After the clamps are opened, you should take a bit to the couple silencers Wiggle, pull, pry and their connection is released and you can mount the new pots. In terms of longer durability, a little tip: if you treat the weld seams thickly with zinc spray before assembly, you will definitely enjoy the new parts for a longer TÜV cycle. It should go without saying that when you replace the exhaust system you also replace the exhaust rubbers.
Part 3: Exchange of shock absorbers on the rear axle
The Exchange of shock absorbers is almost a walk, unlike the brake. The shoulder bolts can be found on the Corsa in the trunk left and right behind a small cover. This one removes and then you release the mother, while you with a suitable key - here I can recommend a wrench, because not everyone has so small open-end wrench to hand - holds against. If the loosening is difficult, or maybe even the pin has turned round to counter, you can also make short work of the Dremel or a small saw and simply blow up the nut. That's how we did it, it saves time and it's just more fun to work with a coarse device. The lower picture of the shock absorber on the rear axle is fixed with a screw, once you have solved this, you can replace the old damper with the new one. * Zag boom-fertisch * Installation is carried out in the reverse order. No - a track or axle adjustment is not necessary.
Everything once - brake, exhaust, damper on the rear axle
All in all, the work mentioned in pairs takes a pleasant working day together. Anyone who has to look at the clock in a rental workshop can get it in three to four hours.
On his own behalf, a well-intentioned advice: of course, can be found in the network various cheap brands in Bremsteilen. However, we believe that you should not save on the brakes and always rely on the best possible suppliers. This has nothing to do with the fact that we want to advertise here for a specific brand, but simply that we have already seen too much scrap and should obstruct. At the end of the day, nothing less than your own life depends on the brakes. That should be worth a little extra - even with a 250 Euro car.
Repairs on "€ 250 Opel Corsa":
- Replace the air mass meter on the Opel Corsa B yourself!
- Exchange air filter
- Replace spark plugs
- Repair the jammed ignition lock
- Rear axle: replace drum brake (including wheel bearing)
- Rear axle: replace shock absorber
- Exhaust: Replace silencer
- Oil change and brake on the front axle (from 19.12.)
